News clipping identified in scrapbook as Houston Post, Sept. 26, 1900. Headline of news clipping is "William M. Rice Dead. Passed Away at His Home In New York Sunday Evening."

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This Sept. 26, 1900 Houston Post newsclipping serves as notice in Houston of William M. Rice's death on Sunday, Sept. 24, 1900, in New York. On Sept. 25, 1900, suspicious banking transactions by Mr. Rice's valet, Charlie Jones, tipped off Mr. Rice's bank that something was wrong. Jones sent a telegram to Capt. James A. Baker in Houston regarding the death. Baker and Mr. Rice's brother Frederick Rice left for New York immediately, calling for a halt to the cremation plans. That night, Albert T. Patrick announced that Rice had recently changed his will, leaving the bulk of his wealth to Patrick. By the next day, Sept. 26, newspapers in New York were announcing mysterious circumstances and a coroner's investigation.